20 Clothing Storage Ideas If You Don't Have a Closet

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Keeping your wardrobe organized is a challenge, no matter how many clothes you own. If you don't have a built-in closet or are otherwise lacking in storage space for all of your clothes, shoes, and accessories, there are plenty of clothing storage ideas that can help. From DIY closet storage solutions to floating shelves, freestanding clothing racks, and vintage and thrift store furniture, check out these simple and effective clothes storage solutions that will get the job done without compromising on style.

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Click Play for Ways to Store Clothes Without a Closet

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Cobble It Together

Neva Interior Design / Photo by Agathe Tissier

Neva Interior Design added clothing storage to the irregularly shaped walls of this closet-free Paris bedroom by adding improvised open shelving, a hanging rod, and a dresser that hugs the curves of the small space, even making room by the window for the added luxury of a small dressing table.

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Hang A Rod From the Ceiling

Fantastic Frank

This top floor Mallorca apartment from Fantastic Frank has a minimalist loft vibe, with a hanging clothes storage rod suspended from the tall ceilings in the bedroom that houses a curated collection of casual shirts and makes it easy to get dressed in the morning. If you have a closet, you can still use this open clothes storage idea to keep seasonal items at hand or display pieces you love to look at but never seem to wear.

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Glam It Up

Design by Leanne Ford Interiors / Photo by Josh Franer

Leanne Ford Interiors created an all-white open closet by hanging open shelving for handbags and neat stacks of jeans, a hanging rod for clothes, and shoe shelving at floor level along a blank wall, a simple clothing storage idea that would work either in a bedroom or large dressing room without a closet. A crystal chandelier and some framed color photographs add embellishment and a boutique vibe for those who enjoy having their wardrobe on display.

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Convert a Spare Room

Design by Calimia Home / Photo by Jeanne Canto

Many older homes lack closets, making clothes storage a conundrum. If you live in a large house, sometimes the best solution is to repurpose a spare room. Calimia Home converted this spare room into a clothing storage space for a large collection of shoes, bags, and accessories using simple wrap-around wall-mounted bracketed shelving and a pair of freestanding dresser drawers.

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Add DIY Shelving

A Beautiful Mess

While it can be tempting to hire a professional to install a custom closet, if you don't have the budget or feel like splashing out, you can create your own bespoke clothing storage by using things you already own and installing inexpensive shelving and clothing rods as needed. A Beautiful Mess created a DIY open closet system where there once was none by hanging double-stacked clothing rods, open shelving lined with baskets, and adding a vintage dresser.

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Stack It Up

Design by Leanne Ford Interiors / Photo by Josh Franer

Even those with built-in closets sometimes find themselves in need of some extra real estate to house their wardrobes. Leanne Ford Interiors added tall, thin white wall-bracketed open shelving against a white wall outside the main closet of a spacious bedroom to create a grab-and-go display space for spillover, favorite, or everyday items. A gold-framed floor mirror next to the rack doubles the perception of space and creates a handy place to check your outfit before you run out the door.

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Use Vintage Pieces

Fantastic Frank

If you are a hardcore minimalist or someone who likes to lay out the next day's outfit the night before, a simple classic bentwood coat rack in the corner of the bedroom can provide extra space to neatly store clothing when you're not wearing it. In this Stockholm bedroom from Fantastic Frank, a tall midcentury modern dresser stands nearby to house items that can be folded. A repurposed vintage coat rack can also work in a hallway for coats if you don't have a coat closet, or in a guest room without a closet, or for hanging towels and bathrobes in a bathroom.

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Add an Entryway Armoire

Liz Marie Blog

Blogger Liz Marie placed a repainted junk store armoire near the front door of her farmhouse living room that compensates for the lack of a coat closet. The armoire provides enough storage for the whole family to put away shoes, coats, and bags, keeping the adjacent living area tidy and clutter-free while blending right in with the all-white decor.

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Commandeer the Home Office

Fantastic Frank

When space is at a premium, no room in the house is off-limits for adjunct clothes storage. Just be sure to keep clothing organized and tidy so that it looks intentional, like this Hamburg, Germany apartment from Fantastic Frank, where an empty wall in the home office is used for a hanging rack, and a couple of pairs of shoes are lined up facing out on the floor below. The desk chair is positioned with its back to the improvised closet so that the mini open-air closet doesn't distract.

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Mix It Up

Inspired By Charm

This spare room turned open closet and dressing room from Inspired By Charm was assembled using a simple DIY closet system on one side, and a double dresser, mirror, and table lamp on the other. A tufted leather ottoman and cow hide float in the center of the space to give it a boutique feel.

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Repurpose a Bookcase

Design by Leanne Ford Interiors / Photo by Nicole Franzen

If your wardrobe fits the style of your decor, there's no reason you can't put it on display, like this gilded mirror topped bookcase from Leanne Ford Interiors that is styled with everything from ankle boots to extra sweaters, folded blankets, and thrift store decor objects.

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Use a Coat Rack

Design by Emilie Fournet Interiors / Photo by Kasia Fiszer

If you have a guest room without a closet like this London basement en suite from Emilie Fournet Interiors, treat it like a boutique hotel and install a handsome metal clothing rack with wood shelves for shoes or extra towels, and add a hanging plant from the top shelf to add a welcoming feel.

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Mix Old and New

Design by Velinda Hellen for Emily Henderson Design / Photo by Veronica Crawford

In this bedroom from Emily Henderson Design, a vintage wooden dresser and a modern white metal clothing rack are perched side by side, and styled with plants and art to look purposeful and give the eye something to look at besides the clothing.

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Borrow Space

Design by Studio Peake

Even people who live in big houses can run out of space to store clothes. In this London home from Studio Peake, an antique chest of drawers in an empty space on the landing makes a perfect spot to offload off-season sweaters, scarves, the t-shirt collection you never wear but can't part with for sentimental reasons, or those baby clothes that you swear you will one day sew into a memorial to childhood quilt.

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Hack Some Built-Ins

A Beautiful Mess

A Beautiful Mess created a wall of faux built-ins on an empty wall by hacking an Ikea wardrobe system to create a custom look and solve a host of clothing storage needs without breaking the budget.

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Use a Leaning Ladder

Design by Sara Tramp for Emily Henderson Design / Photo by Tessa Neustadt

In this spacious bedroom from Emily Henderson Design, a leaning ladder serves as an overnight landing pad for scarves and a handbag, plus a built-in mirror for checking yourself in the morning before you rush out.

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Build a DIY Accessories Wall

A Beautiful Mess

If you are a fashion-conscious dresser whose outfit isn't complete without a coordinating handbag, hat, and jewelry, having a place to keep those finishing touch accessories on display can make getting dressed easier and more fun. A Beautiful Mess added simple wall hooks in neat rows to the wall outside the closet to keep everything organized, visible, and right at hand.

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Use an Antique Armoire

Emily Henderson Design / Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp

There's certainly plenty of room in this spacious bedroom for a built-in closet, but Emily Henderson Design chose to go old school and install a curvy antique armoire in a niche by the bed instead to lend the room a sense of old world style and romance.

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Hang Some Pipe

Liz Marie Blog

Blogger Liz Marie created clean, industrial-looking clothing storage space by mounting two staggered lengths of galvanized pipe on a blank wall. A row of hooks for a hat collection were made using large carriage bolts.

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Use a Freestanding Rack

Fantastic Frank

In this airy Swedish studio apartment from Fantastic Frank, a simple white freestanding clothing rack is perched outside the glass-and-metal doors separating the sleeping area from the main space, a chic and minimalist answer to a room without a closet.